Losing Oil, possibly burning it?

[wannabe]

Hey everyone, I think I may have posted some of this problem before, but here it is again.

This summer/fall I started noticing my oil light coming on when making hard left turns. I checked the oil and noticed it was low, so I did an oil change and did some checking around. I searched on here and didnt really find any information. But I did notice a couple things at the time that i fixed. The oil cap was slightly loose and it looked like some oil had leaked out from there, and the washer on the oil plug was missing. So I made sure i put in exactly 3.7 qts of oil, tightened the cap down real good and replaced the washer. Since then about every 2000 miles i notice the oil light coming on again. I dont see any oil spots on the garage floor, so I don't think its leaking. But I'm not really sure what else to check. I have 75,000 miles so I am well out of warranty so I would like to be able to at least diagnose the problem myself, and then take it in if need be.

any suggestions?

[DiscreetSpeed]

Oil pump starting to fail maybe....do you smell any oil burning?
Any noises? strange new ones that youve never heard i mean.

[justanotheradikt]

im getting the same thing...when i was working on my exhaust i noticed right next to the oil pan (on the other side of the exhaust pipe) where two things meet (trans i think but not sure...didnt really look at it that hard) i had a small area that looked like some oil on it...wasnt bad though. there is something that sticks down about an inch or so that had a drop on it. all around that it looked like oil was there but burnt up. ive never seen oil in my parking space either....i think it slowly leaks out there and burns itself off b/c that area is really hot.
are you using syn oil?

[wannabe]

Oil pump starting to fail maybe....do you smell any oil burning?
Any noises? strange new ones that youve never heard i mean.

well i cant really answer the noises question because i have just recently fixed about a dozen exhaust noises. i havent really noticed a smell either, but that doesnt mean it doesnt exist.

what are symptoms of the oil pump failing that i could look for, like specific sounds/smells

[wannabe]

im getting the same thing...when i was working on my exhaust i noticed right next to the oil pan (on the other side of the exhaust pipe) where two things meet (trans i think but not sure...didnt really look at it that hard) i had a small area that looked like some oil on it...wasnt bad though. there is something that sticks down about an inch or so that had a drop on it. all around that it looked like oil was there but burnt up. ive never seen oil in my parking space either....i think it slowly leaks out there and burns itself off b/c that area is really hot.
are you using syn oil?

yes i am using synthetic. mobil 1.

i'll have to look there.

[justanotheradikt]

ill try to take a pic tonight when im at the g/f's house...im also using synthetic....some say that reg oil plugs up the very small holes and when you go to synthetic they appear....i think thats what my problem is. i never noticed losing oil until i went to synthetic. im debating if i want to go back to reg oil

[wannabe]

i've been running syn since like 10,000 miles...changed it about every 4k with no problems what so ever....

[JCell]

yeah, i burn oil every now and then, when i was in NC, after drivin the car for 15+ hours, enough smoke would come out that you couldn't see my car in front of you :(

[justanotheradikt]

i've been running syn since like 10,000 miles...changed it about every 4k with no problems what so ever....
ive also been running it for about 10k...changed every 3k though

[JCell]

i change my oil every 2k miles :D

Jcell for teh win!!!

[justanotheradikt]

no, thats just useless!!! oh and jcell i might need you to ship me that grill? or meet halfway...looks like i wont be here for as long as i thought :(

[wannabe]

yeah, i burn oil every now and then, when i was in NC, after drivin the car for 15+ hours, enough smoke would come out that you couldn't see my car in front of you :(

jeebus...i dont have that problem thank god...i dont see any smoke behind me ever, but then again the most i would drive is maybe 4 hours at one time...i'm gonna try to have someone follow me

[JCell]

it's mostly when i downshist that the smoke come out


BTW, i work at an oil change place, so i get it fo free!!! :D

[wannabe]

it's mostly when i downshist that the smoke come out


BTW, i work at an oil change place, so i get it fo free!!! :D


i think you should tear apart your engine so you can find a cause...so that i dont have to with mine ;)

[1sty]

Well, my 2003 LX for some reason lost all most all of its oil, the light never came on, there are no visiable leaks and the engine blew apart a cylinder. I will be tearing the block apart shortly to try and find some point of failure.

[Protege52003]

I have been using mobil 1 since 5k and have almost 53K on my car now. i change every 5-8K'ish. i check my oil a couple times a month and before and after long trips and i get low once in a while (1/4-1/3 qt). it seems to happen as the oil gets on the older side......

as long as you keep the oil full and have no major leaks you should have no trouble. maybe you could switch back to dino-oil and see if that makes a diffenrence......

-R

[DiscreetSpeed]

well i cant really answer the noises question because i have just recently fixed about a dozen exhaust noises. i havent really noticed a smell either, but that doesnt mean it doesnt exist.

what are symptoms of the oil pump failing that i could look for, like specific sounds/smells
It would be obvious if were out or close to it...there would be clanking noises from lack of lubrication to the bottom end.

[Protege5 Driver]

my p5 burns the oil common defect of that engine

[wannabe]

if its a common defect how come i didnt notice it until i hit 70,000 miles??

[Protege52003]

if its a common defect how come i didnt notice it until i hit 70,000 miles??

it had to develop the problem? do you check.change your own oil?

[Captain KRM P5]

if you are making hard enough left turns that your oil light is coming on, you are more than likely starving that last cylinder of oil. this is why some companies make baffled oil pans. sadly we're not lucky enough to have one quite yet. i would refrain from doing those types of turns unless you want to spin a rod bearing like my brother did the exact same way on his car. that will pretty much leave you with the option of buying a new or used engine.

[Captain KRM P5]

my p5 burns the oil common defect of that engine

how do you figure?

[wannabe]

it had to develop the problem? do you check.change your own oil?

yes. and the last couple have drained less oil than it used to.

[wannabe]

if you are making hard enough left turns that your oil light is coming on, you are more than likely starving that last cylinder of oil. this is why some companies make baffled oil pans. sadly we're not lucky enough to have one quite yet. i would refrain from doing those types of turns unless you want to spin a rod bearing like my brother did the exact same way on his car. that will pretty much leave you with the option of buying a new or used engine.

hard to explain, but i'm not driving like that...first time it did it was a semi hard left turn, there was a car coming so i jumped on it and turned. after i saw the light come on, i immediately checked the oil level. it was about a half quart low. so i filled it back up and didnt see the light again. i went home and changed the oil, making sure i put in the correct amount. since then i have been turning like a gramma..nice and slow. when the light comes on now, i am usually turning pretty slowly. but now, the problem is not showing itself now until the oil is much lower. like this last time i was a full quart low. i really dont want this to zoom-zoom-boom me, which is why i was searching for feedback...

[wannabe]

bump...sick of checking oil at least once a week....

[Protege52003]

bump...sick of checking oil at least once a week....

are you loosing it that fast???? i changed my oil last week and it was well over due......was not low though. i check mine on a regular basis becasue the worst thing you can do for your engine is run low on oil. as long as you keep it full you will be fine.

-R

[wannabe]

im not losing it that quickly, but i'm adding prolly a 1/4 qt a week or so...just seems to be a little excessive...

[JCell]

i usually end up having to add a quart between oil changes :(

[Protege52003]

^^^


yeah, that does seem like a lot.

are you driving hard

[Protege52003]

i usually end up having to add a quart between oil changes :(

how many miles between changes for you?

[Protege52003]

i change my oil every 2k miles :D

Jcell for teh win!!!

wow, every 2K? seems like a short time!

[wannabe]

^^^


yeah, that does seem like a lot.

are you driving hard

not really...i try to let it warm up a bit before driving and i never redline....i may take it to 5k or so, but i never consider it hard driving.

[Rdshark1]

We did the "oil consumption" testing at the dealer at roughly 10k miles (02 P5). They promptly replaced my engine. This works best if you still have a warranty.

[wannabe]

We did the "oil consumption" testing at the dealer at roughly 10k miles (02 P5). They promptly replaced my engine. This works best if you still have a warranty.


yeah...75k....no warranty...

[justanotheradikt]

We did the "oil consumption" testing at the dealer at roughly 10k miles (02 P5). They promptly replaced my engine. This works best if you still have a warranty.

seriously? i may have to go in and check that bad boy out!!!

[Rdshark1]

seriously? i may have to go in and check that bad boy out!!!

No doubt. I highly recommend de-modding your car (as needed) before arriving at your service center (sssh)

[justanotheradikt]

nothing on the engine...just gotta put the rest of the intake stuff on....damn hope i can find it. motor number 4 here i come!!!!

[Rdshark1]

Ouch...good luck with that.

[idrivemazda]

Damn im having the same problem with the whole turning and engine light coming on. I'm so clueless but then i look at my engine cover/valve cover and there is a quater size oil leak by the oil cap. So im thinking is it from there im loosing my oil. Then my dad says its one of my valves that is messed up because there is a ticking noise from the engine and clunking noise and thats whats robbing the horse power and oil. Where should i start by fixing this problem? is it common on these cars? oh and i did one more thing i checked my spark plugs and they are done so i replaced them and less then 3 mths i had to replace them help guys?

[idrivemazda]

anybod wants to help me please I got beat by a honda civic yesterday it's embarassing!my car needs help!

[wannabe]

so i went out and spent like $3 on a bottle of stop leak/burning oil magic stuff just to see if that makes a difference, on the bottle it says to add it to the normal amount of oil, isnt that bad? shouldnt i be adding it in place of oil?

[JCell]

don't use that crap jon


that is just REALLY thick oil so it's harder for it to burn

[justanotheradikt]

i put some in....mine was really thin....i was like wtf? but hey lets see if it works.

[wannabe]

don't use that crap jon


that is just REALLY thick oil so it's harder for it to burn

i figure it can't really hurt anymore right??

[sabrelli]

i had similiar problem happen to me a few months ago.
hammered it on a tight left turn.
Light went on, lucky i was 1min from home, checked dipstick, it was dry!!!!
added until it was full.

I pretty much check oil twice a week now..pain in the ass...since changing oil 5000km ago, ive had to add in 1.5qt. Like you i see no evidence of leaking oil.


And yeh...out of warranty too. (boom07)

[zoomzoom02]

The same EXACT thing happened to me. Then my engine went because of starvation. Get it checked. Mine did it at 50,563 miles, but it was under warranty(Extended).

[Sveivo]

Yes, I noticed that in these cars you must keep an eye on the oil.

My protege requires the same kind of care as my '84 LeSabre 5.0.

It SUCKS.

[xelderx]

Everyones Protege is actually burning oil. Sometimes a lot. The reason most people don't notice it is because we have 2 catalytic converters. They burn off any trace signs of the oil blowing by the piston rings and burning up in the cylinders. When I rebuilt my first motor from oil starvation, which had over 80,000 miles on it, the cylinder walls were trashed. I had some clearence problems on my second motor from the machine shop so it burned a lot of oil as well, but this time I noticed it since I had installed one hi-flow cat and a side exit exaust. The single cat couldn't burn up all the oil residue so I got a lot of smoke. I thought it was the valve seals since I hadn't repleced them when I ported my head, but even after changing them out it was still burning the same amount of oil. I ended up tearing that motor down after only a few monthes to find that the bore job I got was sloppy and the rings couldn't seat in. So now I'm on my 3rd motor this year. If you are adding a bunch of oil between oil changes it is probably time to pull the motor and have the rings redone.

[SilverBulletES]

I had to add a quart of Mobile 1 at the 3K mile mark this time (41K total).

Probably had something to do with putting 2100 miles on my car in 2 1/2 days and it being stuffed with 500(?) or more pounds of stuff. On day 2 I drove 1050 miles. And that was the day I was in New Mexico and Arizona and I was cruising b/n 75 and 90 with all that stuff in my car. Gotta love the unenforced 75mph speed limit in those states. The last day I got to 125 (indicated) following a BMW in the middle of the desert just south of the Hoover Dam. I could see for a mile and it was flat, no worries. I was amazed how stable the Protege was at that speed. Never taken it over 110 before. It was much less scary than my old SE-R.

I'm going to do an oil change tomorrow and hope my oil consumption returns to normal.

[wannabe]

i did my last oil change with some of the 15,000 mile oil in hopes that it will burn a little slower. i did that a couple weeks ago and so far i seem to be doing ok...i havent checked it this week, but i have had the light come on yet...

[according2me]

Hello all, I'm new to Mazda, but not to vehicle maintenance.

Wow, this thread is really discouraging. I bought a 99LX 1.6L for my daughter earlier this year w/47K miles and now at ~60K it still has no oil consumption. It does have a slow leak from somewhere (might be the front crank seal) and the bottom of the oil pan does get some wetness, but at 4K intervals the oil still registers at the full mark, so it is a slow leak for now. On that point, does Mazda usually use a crush washer on their 1.6L oil drains. I've done several oil changes and this did come to my attention because my Accord uses one.

It seems the only issue with the 1.6L was the MAF (I believe this was taken care of by the original owner) and possibly a weak auto tranny that may require frequent drain/refills (not a problem because of the tranny drain plug).

From browsing this forum for several months, it seems the 2.0L is more problematic.

I drove her Protege to her last May (~320 mile trip) and I must say I was very impressed with the ride and handling. And the interior and appointments compare very well with my '01 Accord LX. I was surprised, this is definitely a nice little sedan and I'll keep the "3" 5dr in mind for my next purchase, but Honda is finally bringing the Jazz over so we'll see.

[wannabe]

yeah, the 1.6 seems to be a more reliable engine, but with the obvious downside of being smaller displacement, but most females dont need the speed like us ;)

[JCell]

last night i had to add a full quart of oil, i did an oil change 600 miles ago :(

[justanotheradikt]

uh oh....looks like mazda engineering is gonna strike again!!!

[damaster]

I'm losing oil too, but not as much as some of the others on this thread. I have to add about 1 quart between oil changes, and I change my oil every 4-5k miles. I have just over 63k miles on the car now.

[Chawk]

My oil is coming out the rear main seal and hitting the cat somewhere in that area and causing it to smoke, i dont think that my engine is burning the oil i think it is the oil leaking then burning underneight the car which caused the smoking.